Sono Motors doubles down on eco-friendly philosophy with Signeasy

The Company

Sono Motors is a young German startup looking to make waves in the automotive industry. They are on their way to producing one of the world’s first self-charging electric vehicles, outfitting their inaugural Sion with solar panels from head to toe. The company is fuelled – or rather, sustainably powered – by a desire to protect our environment, with an eye towards crushing our dependence on oil and pioneering future-forward auto solutions.

The Challenge

The team at Sono Motors is all about putting their money where their mouth is – and as a startup whose heart beats for sustainable development, printing ream after ream of paper was never an option.

If you ask their CEO, he will tell you that we are living in a time where printing is simply unnecessary: after being told time and time again that it was necessary to produce a paper copy of documents such as contracts and NDAs, the folks at Sono asked, “Why?”

The company has a strict no-paper policy and has always relied on digitized document processing. Paperless document management has become easier and Sono has begun using tools like Google Workspace and Drive for just that. However, even with such tools, creating a signed PDF from scratch proved to be prohibitively clunky and time-consuming – so began their search for a more streamlined, efficient electronic signature solution.

Meanwhile, as a growing startup working on a cutting-edge product, Sono Motors regularly handles a large volume of intellectual property protection paperwork whenever a new collaboration is in the works. Faced with delays that cropped up whenever the management team did not have the time to piece together a signed PDF, Sono Motors was looking for an e-signature solution that was quicker and easier than their current paste-signature-as-JPEG system.

• Sono Motors' no-paper policy meant that documents needed to be processed digitally
• Document turnaround was often delayed due to cumbersome PDF-building processes
• Handling large volumes of NDAs meant that Sono Motors needed a quick and easy solution
  

The Solution

After using the software a single time, Sono Motors' 35 employees were hooked. Signeasy was initially brought to the table by the company’s CEO, who had been using it for personal paperwork. Once the team experienced Signeasy’s intuitive interface, any uncertainty or resistance regarding the adoption of an entirely new process melted away. “We told the team that they should try it out once, and then make a decision,” said Jona Christians, CEO. “Everyone who tried it was sold.”

An added benefit with Signeasy is its native integration with other tools already in use by Sono, like Google Drive and Google Workspace (including Gmail and Google Docs). Combining all these tools together helps Sono realize a more connected digital document experience. They're not only saving the environment through reducing paper consumption, they are saving time along the way.

“Thanks, Sono Motors!” – The environment

By keeping their workflows digitized with Signeasy, Sono Motors is able to adhere to their strict no-paper rule in style. A necessity to banish paper entirely was what got the software through the door in the first place, but its clean, easy-to-use interface and a host of useful tools and integrations gave it staying power.

Saving time by revolutionizing old processes

Sono Motors uses Signeasy when it’s time to process all sorts of contracts, from employee agreements to work mandates and NDAs. The office management team simply designates where to sign and invites the managing directors and stakeholders to do so.

“It reduces the time we used to spend on our old PDF program, which required you to import your signature as an image. It also was not available on any mobile platforms,” said Jona. “We started with NDAs, but now we use it for everything.”

Ease-of-use reigns supreme

“From the first time you use it, you save time and you save headaches – you can sign from wherever you are.”

As is the case for many of our users, the main differentiator that sold Jona on Signeasy was its ease-of-use. The fact that he could access the software on his phone, tablet, and web browser was enough for him to choose Signeasy for personal use, eventually upgrading it to company-wide implementation.

“When we prepare a document to be sent off to our signers, we use desktop. But when it comes to signing, that’s mostly completed on mobile. If I’m leaving a meeting and I see that I have a message from Signeasy, I can sign right away, then I’m off to my next meeting.”